Time after time
by cassiemortmain
Summary: A Sybil x Tom story, written for goldenminij-17 as part of the S/T fic exchange on Tumblr. Modern AU - in the run up to Christmas, Tom meets a beautiful brunette at a karaoke evening in east London...


_Author's note_ -

This story was written as part of the Sybil x Tom fandom Secret Santa fic exchange, convened on Tumblr by repmet (thank you for organising it!), for the lovely goldenminij-17. Hope you enjoy it and wishing you all the best for the New Year!

* * *

**Time after time**

"Are you coming, Tom? We said we'd be there at half past."

Tom grabbed his coat from the hanger behind his desk – the evenings were always cold in the run up to Christmas in London, and tonight was no exception. He was heading out for some festive drinks, and after the hectic week he had just been through, he was really ready for a few pints and a few laughs.

"Where are we going?"

Jimmy was fixing his hair, making sure he looked his best for the evening ahead.

"Back up City Road to Shoreditch. Alfred's going to Ivy's party in Hoxton later, he thinks he has a chance with that American flatmate of hers, so we're meeting for a few drinks first before we kick on with him."

"Yeah, Ivy mentioned it to me on Tuesday – she told me we'd all be in big trouble if we didn't turn up!"

The 43 bus from outside their office in the City of London took them towards Old Street. From there, they headed east to a lively pub on Columbia Road.

Pushing through the door, Tom could see the crowd was already in holiday mood. Luckily, Alfred's tall frame and red hair were easy to spot, and he and Jimmy shoved their way to the bar, where their friend was just ordering a drink.

"Perfect timing, Nugent! Couple of pints for me and Mr Kent, if you'd be so kind."

The first beer was halfway down Tom's throat before he started to look around. There was more to this place than the usual Friday night boozer, and he wasn't sure what it was – until he heard a slightly out of tune voice singing the chorus of "Born to Run" to a rowdy accompaniment from the crowd, and realised they had wandered in on karaoke night.

He grimaced – he really wasn't a fan of the "empty orchestra," preferring to spend his time at the pub drinking, talking crap with his friends and occasionally shooting some pool. Of course, there was something else he enjoyed doing at the pub, too, if the moment was right...

The wannabe Bruce Springsteen finished his song, and the host was calling out a name he couldn't hear as the next victim. He heard the name again, and then he saw a girl off to the side of the stage, being pulled forward by one of her friends.

The small, blonde girl doing the pulling was clearly the keener of the two, while the taller brunette whose hand she was holding was reluctant to get on stage. Tom could hear several voices start to chant what sounded like "Sybil, Sybil, Sybil..."

The strains of an ABBA song he couldn't quite remember began to play through the slightly tinny speakers, and the two girls stood side by side, waiting for the singing to start…

_"My my! At Waterloo Napoleon did surrender,_  
_Oh yeah! And I have met my destiny in quite a similar way..."_

The blonde girl started to dance along, and the brunette gave a resigned grin as she copied her friend's moves.

Their two voices rang through the pub strongly enough to attract most people's attention – of course, the fact that the girls were both beautiful drew many eyes to the stage as well. He found himself mesmerised by the brunette. She kept flicking her long wavy hair out of her eyes as she sang, and as she shook her arms and hips to the music he couldn't help noticing her beautiful figure.

_"Waterloo, knowing my fate is to be with you, woah, woah, woah, woah,_  
_Waterloo, finally facing my Waterloo..."_

The song came to an end, to a lively round of applause from the crowd. The two girls grabbed hands and took a bow before walking off stage. Tom could see the brunette had a smile on her face, as if she'd enjoyed herself more than she thought she would. He was dismayed to notice a handsome blond man lean in to kiss her on the cheek when she got back to her table, as if to congratulate her. _Of course, she has a boyfriend – no way a gorgeous girl like that would be here alone._

He felt a keen sense of disappointment as he turned back to his friends, who were talking about the upcoming Premier League round and assessing the likely outcome of the Arsenal-Chelsea game that was being played on Christmas Eve. A little while later, he saw the beautiful brunette come to the bar alone.

_What the hell, I can talk to her, can't I!_ Tom moved along the bar to stand next to her, and saw his opening when he realised she was buying far more drinks that she could carry herself.

"Need a hand with those?"

She turned to him and he saw that she was even lovelier up close than she had been on stage. Her eyes, a deep grey-blue, smiled into his, and he found himself staring at her face, in particular her full, pink lips...

"Thanks, that would be good. I can do the tray thing, but I'm such a klutz I'd be bound to spill something."

"I'm T-Tom, by the way," he stammered, feeling more awkward than he usually did when talking to a girl, his Irish gift of the gab that saw him through most situations deserting him in the face of her beauty.

"Hey Tom, I'm Sybil. Nice to meet you. Can you grab those pint glasses and the bottle of Grolsch, and I'll be able to manage the rest of it?"

He picked up the drinks, including his own, and followed on behind her, trying to keep his eyes on where he was going, and not on her shapely arse.

They arrived at Sybil's table and Tom helped to hand out the drinks, passing over the bottle of Grolsch to the same blond man he had seen kissing her before. _Lucky bastard!_

"Tom, thanks for your help, you're a star. Everyone, this is Tom."

The people at the table smiled up at him and shuffled along, and Tom found himself sitting down next to Sybil, with the blond man on her other side. He couldn't help noticing that the other man was paying much more attention to the girl on his right, another lovely brunette, than his presumed girlfriend on his left, and that made him wonder – _Maybe they aren't together, after all?_

He soon learned something that made him very happy – the blond man was named Matthew and he was married to Sybil's sister Mary. There were only two other men at the table, and it was obvious to Tom that they were there together – Sybil introduced them as Edward and Thomas, her friends from home. _Could she be single? Is there a chance for me here?_

The two other girls at the table, who had been introduced as Sybil's college friends Anna and Gwen, grinned over at him.

"So Tom, what's a nasty boy like you doing in a nice place like this?"

"Already taking the piss, I see – is that a good sign?"

"Of course – it means we like you..."

He turned back to Sybil, drawing her into the conversation, and he soon learnt that the three of them were studying nursing together at St Bart's Hospital in the City of London and shared a flat not far from the pub.

The conversation flowed smoothly from there and it didn't take long until Tom and Sybil were talking comfortably, sharing jokes and stories, completely at ease with each other. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt such an instant rapport with someone, and he completely forgot about his friends who had waved over a little while before, trying to get his attention. He thought he felt something else going on as well, as a subtext to their conversation – a glance, an accidental touch – which made him hope that there was more happening here than just a friendly chat.

He thought he was imagining things when he felt her hand brush against his as it lay on the leather of the booth they were sitting in, and the fact that she wasn't looking at him made him wonder if she had even realised what she was doing. _Faint heart and all that_ – his fingers curled around hers. This time she turned to look at him, and there was no mistaking the expression in her eyes.

He leaned a little closer to her, then closer still. He laid his arm behind her on the back of the booth and, turning towards her, he looked deeply into her eyes, feeling his heart start to race...

"Sybil Crawley, to the stage, please! Sybil Crawley, you're up next!"

Sybil broke his gaze and looked across the table, where Anna and Gwen couldn't hide their glee.

"What have you two done? Once is enough for me, you know that!"

"Oh, come on Sybil, we picked a song we know you really love. The crowd is pissed enough by now that they'd applaud for anyone who gets up there, you don't need to worry!" Gwen winked across at her friend, encouraging her.

Sybil looked back at Tom, and he could have sworn he saw disappointment in her eyes that their "moment" had been broken. He stood up to let her pass, and as she moved past him she whispered – "Don't go anywhere."

He nodded and sat down again, as he heard a slow, familiar song start up over the speakers. Sybil picked up the microphone, looking over at Anna and Gwen and running her finger across her throat in a mock "I'll kill you for this" gesture before she started to sing...

_"Lying in my bed, I hear the clock tick and think of you,_  
_Caught up in circles, confusion is nothing new…"_

This was the first time Tom had heard Sybil sing on her own, and he was surprised by the tunefulness of her husky voice, which was well suited to the Cyndi Lauper classic. It was clear he wasn't the only one who was enjoying the song, as he could see some of the audience starting to sway along. If it hadn't been for the law banning smoking in pubs, he could almost imagine a sea of cigarette lighters...

_"If you're lost, you can look and you will find me, time after time._  
_If you fall I will catch you, I'll be waiting, time after time."_

Sybil was really getting into it now, and he was surprised when she turned towards the side of the stage and caught his eye as she headed to the last few lines of the song –

_"If you fall I will catch you, I will be waiting, time after time..."_

As the music faded out, the crowd rose to their feet as one to applaud her. Tom clapped, calling out "Encore!" and was rewarded with a beautiful blush on her cheeks as she heard what he said.

She blushed even more when the man running the karaoke night presented her with a bottle of champagne – "By unanimous vote, the best performance of the night!" Sybil bowed to the right and to the left, catching his eye again as she stepped down from the stage and made her way back to the table.

"Sybil, you were amazing – didn't we tell you!"

Anna was all smiles as she got up to give her friend a hug. The rest of the table shared her congratulations, and Sybil was still smiling and blushing as she sat down again. Tom moved in next to her and without hesitation he reached under the table to take her hand. She turned towards him with a smile, that beautiful, heartbreaking smile that took his breath away every time he saw it...

Just then, Jimmy and Alfred came over, grabbing him by the shoulder and pulling him out of the booth.

"Come on, mate, the party started ages ago! Ivy will be on the warpath if we don't turn up."

"Guys, um, well, I don't know if I'm going to make it tonight..."

"What the bloody hell are you talking about, Tom? Ivy's counting on us to come tonight, you know that."

Tom sighed – he knew they were right. Ivy was a good friend of his and she would be really disappointed if he didn't show up. He turned back to Sybil –

"I'm really sorry, I have to go. Could I, maybe, call you sometime? Take you out for dinner?"

It wasn't the most elegant way to ask her out, but she smiled and nodded – "I'd love that, Tom. Here's my number...give me a call."

She scribbled her number on the back of a coaster and gave it to him. "Look forward to seeing you again, soon."

They shared another long glance before Tom was dragged away by his friends. His last sight of Sybil was a wave and another gorgeous smile, before she turned back to her friends.

"Tom, who was that girl?"

"Oh, just someone I met. Did you hear her sing?"

"Yeah – that was her? She was good, pretty too – well done, mate."

Tom smiled to himself, remembering the way Sybil had looked at him while on stage –

_"If you fall I will catch you, I will be waiting, time after time..."_

* * *

Tom woke up late the next morning and thought about the three-day rule for about two minutes before sending a text to Sybil, to see what she was doing on Sunday.

Soon, his phone beeped and he read her message, feeling a huge smile break out across his face:

_"I'm around – heading back to my parents for Christmas tomorrow night, but could do lunch?"_

_"Do you like fish? How about J Sheekey?"_

_"See you there at 1"_

He quickly called the popular Covent Garden eatery to reserve a table, and spent the rest of that afternoon in a bit of a happy daze, thinking about seeing Sybil again. On Sunday, he arrived twenty minutes early, in his anxiety not to be late, and stood outside the restaurant in the freezing winter afternoon, looking out for her.

Just before 1pm, he caught sight of a dark head coming from St Martin's Lane. It was just starting to snow, and when Sybil reached him she looked like an angel, snowflakes scattered like stars over the dark veil of her hair. She was wearing a bright red scarf wrapped twice around her neck, and the colour was echoed in the bright flush of her cheeks in the cold air. Her eyes were sparkling, he hoped, with the same excitement and anticipation he was feeling.

"Hey Sybil, great to see you again."

"Thanks for asking me, Tom."

They looked at each other and Tom felt his heart racing again as he took a step towards her, offering her his arm as they walked into the restaurant.

It didn't take long until they fell back into their free-flowing conversation from the night they met, talking and laughing as they shared more about their lives, their dreams, their hopes. Tom realised that he hadn't had a first date like this in – he didn't know how long – perhaps ever. To feel so in tune with someone, to have so much in common, was amazing. And then there was the chemistry between them, so intense he was having trouble resisting the temptation to whip the cloth off the table, plates and all, and lay Sybil down on it...

"So, where is your family?"

"Everyone's in Dublin. I'll be flying home for a couple of days on Christmas Eve. How about you?"

"Oh, Yorkshire. I'll get the train from Kings Cross tonight to get back there. The whole family will be there – Mary and Matthew, you met them the other night, and my other sister Edith who lives in Paris, as well as my grandmother and a few others. Quite a crowd, really."

"How long will you stay?"

"Just over a week – I'll get back on New Year's Eve. I haven't really seen my family much since this academic year began, so I want to spend some proper time with them. It's funny – I love them all so much, but I'm already starting to realise that their life, the life they want for me, isn't what I want for myself."

"You're an adult, aren't you – you can decide for yourself the life you want."

She looked down, seemingly thinking about something before she spoke again – "I'm the black sheep of the family, really. My father is the Earl of Grantham and both he and my mother have my life all planned out for me because of that."

_Her father's an Earl? Christ, he would hate me, a working class Irishman..._

"Sybil, I know we only just met, but I have the feeling you are pretty capable of speaking up for yourself and saying what you want."

"You're right, I am – I just don't want to hurt them."

He smiled at her encouragingly, reaching across the table to take her hand.

"I'd bet on you, any day of the week."

She smiled back at him, and their eyes locked. This time, they couldn't look away until she glanced at her watch – "Oh no, I've got to go, I'm going to miss my train."

"Want some company?"

"Love some."

They settled up and headed back to the coatroom. Tom helped Sybil into her coat, and wrapped her scarf around her neck.

"Are you ready, milady?" he joked, and she smiled back at him, taking his hand again.

"Thank you ever so much, Branson. Let's away."

He squeezed her fingers as they walked through the snow back to Leicester Square tube. There was a crowd on the platform, so it came naturally to Tom to put an arm protectively across Sybil's back as they stepped into the Piccadilly line train. There was only one seat, so he cocked his head at it – instead, she pushed him down into the seat and sat in his lap.

She looked down at him as he put his arm around her waist to hold her steady against the movement of the train as it rattled along the tracks. He met her gaze and held his breath as her fingers came up to touch his cheek and she leaned down to him. They shared their first kiss in that Tube carriage, rocking their way through the tunnels of the Underground, half in light, half in darkness...

Tom accompanied Sybil to the platform at King's Cross. As they said goodbye, he found himself clinging to her, kissing her as if his heart would break to let go of her. The feeling of her warm body in his arms left him breathless and he couldn't hold her tightly enough. The whistle blew and she reluctantly broke from his embrace, stepping into the carriage just in time. She reached out of the train, grabbing his hand for one last touch –

"Bye, Tom, hope you have a wonderful Christmas."

"Sybil, can I see you when you get back?"

The train pulled them apart, and she leaned out of the window to speak to him – "Can't wait."

She kissed her fingers to him, and then she was gone. He felt bereft, as if a part of him were travelling with her to Yorkshire...

* * *

Tom looked at the door for what felt like the fiftieth time that evening – _Where was she?_ He was in a crowded room, filled with friends, music and booze, but something was missing – Sybil.

She had been away for more than a week and he had missed her, so much. They had texted back and forth, a few times every day, and had fallen into a little ritual of wishing each other good night before they went to bed. Now, she was on her way back to London and he couldn't wait to see her again at the New Year's Eve party he'd invited her to.

He grabbed a canapé from the passing tray, just to keep his mind occupied, and felt a hand on his shoulder – "Tom?"

Turning, his mouth dropped open a little – she was so much more beautiful than he had remembered! He saw a vision in a long dark red dress, her fair skin glowing against the fabric, her long hair twisted up behind her head.

"Sorry I'm so late, it's the trains – wrong kind of snow on the line, or something."

Sybil leaned up on tiptoe to kiss him. The quick press of her lips against his sent a spark of electricity running through his body. He smiled at her –

"It's lovely to see you again, Sybil. Do you want a drink?"

Tom put his arm across her shoulders, guiding her through the crowd to the bar, where he bought some champagne for both of them.

Their glasses clinked and when they looked at each other, their eyes locked. The background behind her faded away – all he could see was her, in exquisite detail. The sparkle in her eyes, her parted lips, her long earrings brushing against her cheeks...

"Tom, I'm so happy to see you again. I've missed you. Does that sound strange?"

"Not strange at all, Sybil – I've missed you too." They shared a smile._  
_

"What have you been up to? How was your Christmas in Ireland?"

He told her how they all went to midnight mass on Christmas Eve, singing carols and walking through their neighbourhood, saying hello to everyone they knew on the way. Then, everyone pitching in to help make the festive meal, too many people crowded around his mother's table, drinking, laughing, eating and talking too much. He spoke of the drinks he'd shared with his old friends on Boxing Day in the city, catching up on each other's lives.

She smiled, asking questions and sharing stories from her own family Christmas, sometimes touching his arm to emphasise a point. She had a nervous habit of pushing a stray curl back behind her ear, and without thinking he reached up to brush it back for her. As he smoothed the curl into place, his thumb touched her cheek, and his fingers fell to her jawline, tilting her face to his.

"Ten, nine, eight…"

Her lovely face flushed as he caressed her, and her eyes shone brighter than the candles on the Christmas tree nearby. His arm slid around her waist, pulling her close, as his fingers gently stroked her throat, waiting, hoping for her to come to him. _I'd wait forever...__  
_

She slid one hand up his arm and behind his head, wrapping her other arm around his waist. Their lips met, just as the chimes of midnight rang through the crowded room, and he heard her sigh into his mouth as he pulled her to him.

A moment turned into several and they remained locked together. Tom ran his hand through her hair, tracing the soft strands with his fingers before cupping the back of her head. He could taste the champagne on Sybil's lips as their kiss deepened, her tongue moving to meet his own. She pressed her beautiful curves into his body, trying to get closer, always closer...

_"Should auld acquaintance be forgot,_  
_And never brought to mind_  
_Should auld acquaintance be forgot_  
_And days of auld lang syne..."_

The fireworks were going off outside the window, all along the Thames, when their embrace finally broke. Her eyes stayed closed for a moment and when she opened them, she smiled. He took her hand, pressing it to his heart –

"Sybil, I know it's crazy, we only just met, but I have to tell you – I think I'm in love with you. I haven't stopped thinking about you for a minute, ever since we met."

She smiled up at him – "Tom, it's not crazy at all, or if it is I don't care, because I'm crazy too."

He pulled her into his arms again, putting one hand on her head to bring it down to his shoulder. He stroked her hair, breathing in its floral scent and pressing a kiss to the top of her head before she looked up at him and smiled. As they kissed again, Tom already knew that this would be the best year of his life, because he was starting it with Sybil in his arms - nothing could be a clearer sign of happiness and joy to come...

_"If you fall I will catch you, I will be waiting, time after time..."_

**The End**

* * *

_A/N -_

Song credits - "Born to Run" by Bruce Springsteen, "Waterloo" by ABBA, "Time after Time" by Cyndi Lauper (my personal karaoke favourite). You can listen to them all on youtube. From what I hear, the Friday night karaoke at the Birdcage in Shoreditch is a lot of fun... would love to have an S/T fandom night out there, one day.

Thanks so much for reading! As always, I would really love to know what you think.:)


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